NAB to complete investigation against Lanjhar in two months

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has granted the accountability watchdog two months to complete investigations against Law and Prisons Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjhar in connection with alleged corruption and accumulation of assets.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro, directed the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) special prosecutor to complete the investigation and submit a progress report by June 21. Till then, the court also extended the interim pre-arrest bail earlier granted to the minister on May 29, 2017.

Lanjar, who belongs to the Pakistan People’s Party, had apprehended his arrest by NAB on charges of corruption and had approached the court seeking bail to avoid his arrest.

During Friday’s proceedings, the special prosecutor informed the judges that the inquiry launched against the provincial minister had been completed and the same had been converted into an investigation.

The prosecutor alleged that during the inquiry, Lanjhar was found involved in corrupt practices, misuse of official authority and accumulation of movable/immovable assets beyond his known sources of income.

The court was informed that the inquiry suggested that the petitioner had purchased a bungalow in Karachi’s upscale Defence neighbourhood. The prosecutor claimed that Lanjar’s name was duly mentioned in the sale agreement of the bungalow, which he got transferred on the name of his father-in-law.

The NAB prosecutor further claimed that the provincial minister had not disclosed the bungalow in question among his assets. The court was also informed that the inquiry had suggested that the petitioner also owned other assets that he allegedly obtained through illegal means, but had not disclosed.